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The Lost Sanctum
Somewhere close to . The Woodland immediately north of the bustling beach city was sprawling with life, deers, birds, bears and more lived within the confines of the forest, keeping away from the humans that frequented this region. Ordinarily, nature ran its course undeterred here, but this day something seemed amiss, and the animals had migrated to the northernmost part of the woods and avoided the central area with great deliberation. It was a curious phenomenon to be sure, but its cause was soon revealed as all of a sudden, there was a rumbling sound that shook the earth for miles around. Audible to all as the ground split itself apart to form an enormous chasm in a fiery blaze — reducing surrounding trees to ash in its raw intensity and within the span of a single moment. Turning the previously lush centre of the forest into a scorched wasteland. Yet the earth behaved strangely as a winding staircase began to form at the walls of the pit, descending towards a gate of red gold bearing carved pictures of beast faced humanoids fighting over a large book. Just as soon as it had begun, the rumbling died down, and the world stabilised in its new form... A dungeon had appeared. The Chosen Few A few hours later in The Throne Room was a stunning piece of architecture, pillars of gold supported a ceiling decorated with murals and paintings of the feats and prestige of House Kira. In particular, it seemed to feature King Guthrie Clover II's relative prominently, performing a variety of grand feats and inspiring the people with astounding speeches. It was a farce of course, and Guthrie knew that better than anyone, yet he had permitted it to remain for not only did he find the irony amusing but the visage of his forefather was a constant reminder of what a King ought NOT to be. Undoubtedly the former King would have taken offence to his countenance being in used such a manner, but it mattered not, Guthrie held no respect for any of his ancestors save himself. After all, none of them had managed to wake the Eidolons, and that proved that in the last hundred years he was the only worthy ruler. Usually, the throne room was bustling with activity as sycophants and nobles threw themselves at every whim and gesture that Guthrie made in the hopes of currying favour with the King. But today was different, as a specific dungeon had reappeared for the first time in centuries; the Lost Sanctum; it was called - and within its treasury, it held an item which Guthrie desperately wanted. It was common practise for the Coral Peacocks to be sent to visit dungeons, but when it concerned this specific one he had used his political clout to pick a selection of mages he deemed most suitable for the mysteries of the Sanctum, all powerful mages in their own right. He had commanded their presence personally through the assistance of Nathaniel, a user of and one of the King's dearest companions; he longed to see this business through so that he might return to his royal duties. If his guards were to be believed they should be here any moment, he had informed them about the dungeon, although they had undoubtedly already heard of its appearance. Further specifics to be discussed upon their arrival. Jon Valeran arrived quietly into the room, never being one for much fanfare. He had hurried over when he had gotten the call about running a dungeon for one simple reason. He loved stuff. Jon was a kleptomaniac at heart, always wanting new and valuable things, leading him to volunteer for runs whenever they came up. Jon approached the king before stopping to bow deeply. "Your Majesty." Standing back up, he adopted a parade rest position while waiting for further instructions. Smiling good-heartedly Godric Vermillion made his way towards the throne room, with his blond hair glowing due to a mixture of his great mood and his Magic, he was practically giving off a happy feeling of warmth and peace. Walking into the room smiling towards every Knight he came across and receiving one in return he happily made his way towards the king and after nodding towards Jon in greeting he bowed his head to The King. "A pleasure to see you again my king". Godric spoke in a tone showing nothing but joy and respect. "I heard you had a mission that requires a certain group of individuals so I hurried my way here". He finished with his head still bowed. Strutting down the halls to the throne room was a girl of silver hair and azure blue eyes. She walked with dignity and grace, it was almost as if nobility was spelled out on her forehead. Despite her highborn exterior, she had a bubbly demeanor about her with a small amount of pep in her step. This girl was Noelani Silva, and noblewoman of the royal . As she entered the throne room and stands before King Guthrie Clover II she drops into a curtsey, common when greeting a king. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, my king." Noelani would speak in a tone of respect and beauty as she arises from her curtsied pose. "To my understanding, you have called upon me and my fellow magic knight Godric Vermillion for a mission of sorts. As he said prior we both came as fast as possible." It took some time for Pangu to enter the room. The fluffy creature, being farly small than a regular member of his species, walked past the door in his four legs, shifting to a bipedal position the closer he got from the other knights. Instead of standing by their sides, Pangu hugged Jon's leg, the only other member of his own squad, and peeked in the direction of the throne, sighting the King. "O-o-on duty." He said, in a childish and timid voice. With the team assembled, the King fixed his gaze on each of them in turn, his gaze resting on Jon and Pangu longer than most, with Jon, the King smiled almost affectionately whereas with Pangu his expression became inscrutable. One might hazard a guess as to what he thought of the unusual Magic Knight, did he find him a disgrace, a curious curiosity or perhaps he was simply overwhelmed by the raw unadulterated levels of cute cuddliness that the little guy possessed? It was a question best left to learned sages. Nevertheless, Guthrie rose from his throne and raised his hand wordlessly as he began to draw glyphs and symbols into the air... letters of iridescent gold manifesting in perfect succession before each letter shone with vibrant violet light. The King's hands trailed motes of purpel-hued light that soon scattered in all directions, striking the ceiling, floor and the walls of the Throne Room at once; wherever they struck the area appeared to turn transparent and then change to reflect the woodland around Raque, close to where the Dungeon had appeared. This was the power of the Eidolon of Light; as Guthrie invoked the powers of Maduin to have the throne room become a reflection of the groups ultimate destination, but this was not all, for once the light had settled and they seemingly found themselves in the middle of the forest, they could hear the song of birds.. and feel the grass underneath them and the wind upon their face. But they could also hear the sound of the guards outside the door to the Throne Room. Odin's powers had supplemented those of Maduin and the result was that the group now occupied a space in-between both locations.. not quite in the throne room, not quite in the forest. Consequently, Guthrie had formed points of exit, one that leads out into Clover Castle and another that would take them directly to Raque. With this act of sorcery complete, the King lowered his hands and spoke plainly: "As you were made aware of, a Dungeon has appeared in the woods around Raque." he paused briefly before continuing. "Truthfully, that intelligence is rather incomplete, for this Dungeon is quite particular in that it has appeared numerous times over the last few centuries, only to vanish again days later." Guthrie fixed his gaze on each of the Knights in turn, as if to reexamine their qualifications. "It might interest you to know that this dungeon has never once been breached, and its treasury stands untouched due to the terrors that guard its innermost reaches. It is for that reason that it was named "The Lost Sanctum" by Sages." The King of Clover allowed the implications to sink in for a moment before he finished: "All that is known is that it is said to house a particular book that I desire for the betterment of our Kingdom, an item that legends tell lie guarded by a monster fit to rival the devils of ages past." "Any idea as to the layout, your Majesty?" Jon asked respectfully. "If this dungeon has shown up multiple times at least the initial layers should be mapped." Seating himself back down on his throne, which now looked wildly out of place standing in the reflection of a lush forest, Guthrie took a moment to consider the question before answering. "A reasonable inquiry; to date, any map drawn of the interior of the sanctum has crumbled into dust moments after pencil touched paper, undoubtedly the work of some ancient enchantment placed upon the complex to safeguard it. But that isn't to say that we have no information, individuals have come as far as the second room and lived to relay their findings... although mostly in garbled nonsense brought about madness. Still, choice phrases such as "do not look at the eyes" are oft repeated in what information we do have about the second room; beyond that point, none have returned." "When it concerns the first room however I know a great deal more, I know that it contains magical devices of mysterious origins that emit fields of distorting energies that dramatically tax the arcane reserves of anyone who enters, so as to weaken intruders to the point of irrelevance before they are capable of mounting a serious effort; it appears to weaken relative to your magical power and so it drains everyone equally so nobility is not necessarily a boon." "Hmm.... So we need to clear the first room as quickly as possible." Jon muttered as he rubbed his beard. "Longer we're there the less juice we'll have to get out with." Jon was an experienced dungeon runner, something that showed and was likely why he was chosen. Pangu raised his little paw to call for the attention of the king. "W-w-w-what are we supposed to do if... if... if we find mages from a-a-another kingdom there?" Guthrie turned to address the curious little creature and answered coldly: "Raque is within the Clover Kingdom and so any foreign mages are to be considered an act of war, kill them without reservation. Capture them if you wish, but given our intelligence operatives and interrogators I would say that killing them is a kindness." Sending curious yet blant looks at Pangu due to his uber cuteness at least to himself, Godric returned his attention back towards the matter at hand. "Am I to assume that we are permitted to keep any and every "Items" other than what you specified for ourselves or is that rather something we should avoid?" Godric questioned as he knew from prior experience about the valuable items found within dungeons, having first hand acquired his current sword from an old dungeon in his earlier years as a Magic Knight. The King spoke briefly in response to Godric's question: "You are permitted to take a single item from the treasury each, moreover you are also entitled to a share of forty percent of the riches kept in the vault for your efforts for breaching the Lost Sanctum, to be distributed between all of you as you deem fit; furthermore, any items you discover outside the treasury are yours to keep." Following his statement, Guthrie rose from his throne again and gestured at the wall which seemed to ripple like the surface of some great lake, images of lush grasslands, birds and trees churning within its centre as it expanded into a large tapestry formed a gateway between the Castle and the wilds close to the Dungeon. "Further inquiries can be made when you complete your task, you will find another agent already in the field, he too shall accompany you - together you should have a reasonable chance at success. Go, Magic Knights and do not fail the Clover; enter the portal on the wall and bring me the Tome of Beasts." The Lost Sanctum: Act I A dark skinned man sat at the edge of the massive door that had been carved into the face of the earth. Below him was an endless chasm of darkness, which he was sure would've lead him into hell had he slipped and fell on his way down. Ézéchiel d'Ébène-Terre. The Dark Mage. He took a deep breath and thought about the earlier conversation. The Coral Peacocks were the treasure hunters. He would've never thought that his boss would've sent him on this mission. But Ezekiel, also being a Magic Knight, was the best option on important task that involved the nine squads. Plus, possessing an obsessiveness regarding his thaumaturgical advancement, wielded magic that would surely prove useful against the endless traps that definitely littered this mysterious sanctum. Ezekiel stood up and fixed himself. Beneath his Azure Deer cloak, the Dark Mage wore a lightweight wool jacket over a cotton shirt which complemented his pants. A combination of navy blue and white that created a midnight sensation to those who looked at him. An outfit meant to allow for swift movement and breathability. Ezekiel approached the ancient door and touched it, creating a layer of protection between himself and any potential traps with his mana flowing between his finger. It felt as if the ancient dungeon was alive, breathing in ambient mana and exhaling an antique aura long forgotten by man. His heart raced at the chance to experience this. Ezekiel loved adventures as much as he loved battle. But he knew he needed to remain calm. As opposed to his future allies in this endeavor, Ezekiel had been given an additional task. One that came from the Top Shelf directly. Rare for them to contact him... Either way, Ezekiel took a seat once more and continued to wait. I hope they don't send her. Moments after Ezekiel's hand touched the ancient door; there was a sudden shudder in the air as flashes of red lightning began to twine through the air before rushing downwards into the ground. Followed next by a soft rumbling as the doors to the Lost Sanctum started to part of their accord: sliding to the sides and evaporating into thin air revealing a long corridor that descended further down into the depths of the earth. Darkness obscured everything for a few moments more before there was a rustle and whooshing sound as dozens upon dozens of rows of sconces lit up at once in lurid green flames that illuminated the passageway in full, albeit with an almost unnatural sheen. In spite of what the outside might lead one to believe, the interior of the dungeon appeared to be marble, and it most resembled the corridor of some lavish palace. Appearances could indeed be deceiving, and what was more, Ezekiel could also clearly make out the sound of waterfalls echoing up from the lower levels. Then there was the raw magical power at play in the environment, it felt almost strangling, as though it displaced the very air itself and at times the Magic Knight might suddenly have to gasp for oxygen as the presence of the dungeon warped and twisted the laws of the natural world. Ezekiel watched the magic unfold. His lowered eyes hiding the utter shock within. He could feel the ancient magic twisting the idea of common sense. If not for his control over mana, Ezekiel would find himself gasping for air. But his mana moved like the blood throughout his veins. Still, he worried that one of his comrades wouldn't be able to withstand such a forgotten aura. A thick atmosphere of antique. In Ezekiel's line of work, the young mage learned that the lavishness was nothing more than the colorful skin of a poisonous insect or fungi. A trap meant to lure adventurers into safety. Instead he held his ground waiting for this team to arrive. Besides, Ezekiel knew his place. He wasn't an attack mage per se. His specialty lied in support. I hope he found a proper defense mage. "I see that someone was waiting here for us, good sir." Jon said with a slack jaw as he walked through the edge of the King's magic. A sword made of thorns rested on his shoulder as he walked onwards, his Guilty Thorn ready for the dangers ahead. "So who might you be?" Ezekiel felt his new teammates arrival and smiled. A slight grin with lowered eyes that spoke of a nonchalant attitude. "My name is Ezekiel. I am the Vice-Captain of the Azure Deer." Only half of his resume. But the other part didn't matter to those who weren't involved. "His majesty requested that I help you guys with this dungeon." His attention returned to the opening in the cave, his eyes peering deep within. "Though I might have disturbed it. What about you?" "I can see that," Jon noted as he looks past Ezekiel into the gaping maw of the dungeon. The magical power here was immense, even more so than most of the other dungeons he'd run into in the past. He adjusted his Mana skin to compensate as he contemplated this place. This was going to be a Wooly run, that was for certain. "Names Jon, 5th Class Senior Knight for the Orcas. A pleasure." “Who woulda thunk it?” a voice called out. Wayne Kira descended from above, riding a magical broom towards the duo. “It’s Valeran himself. Haven’t seen you in a while, bwahahaha!” he laughed, despite not having made a joke. Wayne of course, had not been present when the information revolving around the dungeon was explained to the knights, so him showing up was sure to be a surprise of sorts. He hopped off of the broom, grasping with a hand as he landed. Wayne stared into the Dungeon, the doors ajar. The man could feel the power radiating from within. If it weren’t for the mans magic power and his Mana Skin, Wayne was sure he would have been struggling to breathe by merely standing near it. “So,” the madman began. “When’re we hopping right into this bad boy?” Flying in on what looked like a silver bird of enormous size. As it approached you could see the light shimmering off of it. The bird seemed to move in almost a liquid like fashion though, still remaining solid enough to soar through the air and with someone on its back no less. As it’s lowered to the ground a young girl could be seen, this girl was also at the palace earlier today. She dismounted her bird and it dissipated as she began to walk toward the two men, “Am I late.” She uttered in a hushed voice she had lost most of the noble aura she had carried as she walked within the walls of the castle she seemed more natural in behavior all while somehow upholding the visage of a magic knight. “Hi, I’m Noelani! I haven’t yet had pleasure of formally meeting you all, how are you both?” Noelani would say with a sweet smile on her face directed at all three of the men. Having arrived a bit earlier than the rest and decided to check out the area surrounding the dungeon to wast time, Godric once again casually walking up to the gather group of Magic Knights whom he would venture into the dungeon with, Godric gave them all a warm and friendly smile nodding his head in acknowledgement towards the group. "I believe that all of our group members have arrived now". He spoke before looking over each member and inspecting them to get a based judgment on their strength before bowing slightly in a gentleman way. "Allow me to Property introduce myself, My name is Godric Vermillion and I am a 1st Class Intermediate Magic Knight hailing from the Silver Eagle Squad." Godric states and he rose from his bow. Noelani playfully scowled at her fellow Silver Eagle. “Took ya long enough, Godric.” Noelani smiles at Godric making it even more clear her last remark was simply a joke. “Now we can finally get in there, as long as everyone is ready that is.” Glancing towards the person who called out to him Godric finally realized just who exactly was in the group before a big smile made its way upon his face. "Noelani, I didn’t know you enlisted for his quest as well." He states while quickly embracing his fellow squad member in a hug before releasing her and finally looking at each member carefully in case he knew any other members. From the nearby woods, a black and white ball made its way towards the dungeon. Appearing to be a soccer ball at first, it bumped in every obstacle that appeared in its route, bouncing from one place to another in quite high speed. Before it could strike the individuals near the dungeon's door like bowling pins, it started to slow down until the ball was no longer a ball, but a upside down, fluffy creature. Pangu, with his head on the ground and butt in the air, took some time to get up properly. With his paws, he cleaned the dust from his fur and adressed his fellow comrades. "I-i-i-i've arrived." He said, quite timidly. “Is that...A PANDA?!?!?!” Noelani. Tamed over to the newest knight on the scene. A sharp twinkle flashed in her eye as she locked her sights on the panda bear. She rapped her arms around Pangu hugging and cuddling him profusely. She quickly composed herself putting down the bear. “Sorry for the outburst. Hi, I’m Noelani, a pleasure.” She squares down holding out her hand to greet the panda properly as apposed to her previous greeting. The sudden assault caught Pangu out of guard, but the pleasure of being squished was such that he didn't mind to be enveloped in Noelani's arms at first. However, when he was released, a mix of anger and fear filled his body; the Panda almost instantly run away, hiding himself behind a rock. "D-d-don't t-to-touch me!" Peeking behind a rock, his angered words were directed towards Noelani. His tone, however, was far from being taken serious; it sounded just like an angry child. Royalty and nobility were called to help claim this dungeon in the name of Clover Kingdom. That made sense when Ezekiel thought about it. But perhaps it meant something even deeper for one such as himself. That his own prowess meant so much to the King that he trusted Ezekiel to stand on equal footing. Regardless, their magical power was true to their names and Ezekiel knew that this mission would be a success. "Looks like everyone is here-" Ezekiel noticed the panda and fell to the ground in an explosion of shock. "Awesome!" A talking panda was something new. Most magic knights favored squads of beautiful women. But Ezekiel had been telling Sapphira they should focus on the recruitment of animals. A squad filled to the brim with trained beast! He quickly regained his composure and stood up. "We should get going. This Dungeon is particular, in that it never stays in one place for too long. Which means we need to clear it before it carries us into the next century." Ezekiel spoke, his quiet voice filled with wisdom and knowledge. He wasn't the run of the mill mage. In fact, he was one of few mages who specialized in support based combat. "Whatever, hairspray." Wayne stated, hopping onto his broom. He stood on the handle as it floated, crouching down. The broom zoomed over to Pangu, the mage blatantly ignoring Ezekiel's suggestion. "Hey little panda," he called out. "It's been quite some time now, hasn't it?" Hearing Wayne's words, Pangu left the rock and walked clumsily towards the man; his gaze on Noelani the entire time, watching her carefully with fear of being assaulted once again. Whatever was their relationship, Pangu was quite found of the other mage. He hugged his leg, butt on ground, resting quietly under his shade. Noelani watched as the Panda bear shot forward from her grasp before they could even engage in conversation. “Aww I didn’t mean to scare you, little guy. I’ll leave you alone, I promise.” Noelani playfully shot back up to a standing position before once agin joining the group. First Room - Land of Hopeless Waters Following their introductions, the group of Magic Knight finally began their descent down into the Lost Sanctum, the sound of water would grow in intensity until it reached a maddening cacophony, one that seemed to drown out all other sounds aside from its own. The corridor winds downwards in steep curves and hoops, sometimes heading up and sometimes down to the point that it becomes difficult to track one's whereabouts, and how close they are to the surface. Despite the curious nature of the passageway the Magic Knights seem to get by easily enough, nothing as of yet has arisen to bar their path and no trap appears to have been activated, however, a challenge soon presents itself as they reach the end of the corridor and the proper entrance to the first room. In any manmade structure, the way down would consist of a single sloping path down a flight of stairs; but within the Lost Sanctum things are quite different, for the end of the road leads to a steep drop as the corridor plummets down and ends in a vast open space, hundreds of feet above the room below. The First Room of the Sanctum is an extraordinary affair, large enough to house a castle it consists entirely of a massive lake filled with churning waters that violently turn, crash and churn against one another in a state of perpetual disharmony, If one were to fall into those raging waters, one would be scarcely last a moment but for the baleful force of the currents. Yet the most unusual feature of all would be seven waterfalls, which fall in reverse, shooting up from the chaotic waters below and crashing against the ceiling and scattering into perpetual sprays of high-velocity water to make even flying a risky manoeuvre. To make matters even more complicated the waterfalls seemed to move across the water surface in erratic patterns that made predicting their path all the more challenging, moving pillars of death that they were. Guthrie’s intelligence would seem quite outdated by all accounts, but he had been correct about one matter and that was the mana disruption devices, visible as four orbs that darted across the room with impressive speed whilst they emanated fields of distorted energies from a single purple gem set in their centre. As the group grew closer, they can feel how one's mana seems to almost increase in weight, growing heavier and more unwieldy.. as though it wishes to resist them.. but the effect passes quickly when the orbs move further away, circling the room in an endless pattern. Ezekiel was the first person into the room. And it was good that he was, for he could feel his mana skin suffering from a continuous series of minute distortions. One second it felt as if he wore a heavy leather hide over himself and the next, just as it always been. Of all the Magic Knights, Ezekiel ranked among the few who could flawlessly control their own mana. So these weird readings was quite strange to the ebony Mage. He turned to the others with a slight grin. "Those orbs are messing up our mana. It seems like they dont want us to get across. Anyone here have any ideas?" Looking towards the orbs and feeling his mana pulsing wildly disturbing his already chaotic control, Godric paused for a second before glancing towards Ezekiel with a questionable look. "Despite the disruption that seemed to affecting my mana perhaps it’s entirely possible for me to create a strip of land as I utilize Volcanic Magic". He stated as he attempted to see if his idea was a plausible one as despite his mana being in disarray. "Then again perhaps I shouldn’t as we’re unsure if their room has central air or any openings to allow the steam and sulfur to disperse through". Godric offered up as he turned to the rest of the group. John whistled slowly as he looked towards the water below. "This is going to be a nasty run. And I have run a lot of dungeons." He quietly added afterwards. "Going to have to go with trying to directly challenge this room with magic won't work all that well. Gotta work around the threats. The pool at the bottom ain't all that bad as long as you don't fall in it. Which the orbs make easy to do. Flying is hard with all the high pressure water around. And getting hit by one of those waterspouts means you're dead unless you have a way to block, which is also restricted by those orbs. Top it off, we have no idea where the door is. We need to take this nice and slow for the moment." Ezekiel has broken into countless houses and royal establishments from different lands. He has infiltrated thieves dens and terrorist cells across the four countries. Never has he faced something this annoyingly challenging. And for some odd reason, Ezekiel was excited. Had he not been afraid of heights, the ebony mage would've leapt from the ledge. But John was right. This would require nice and slow decision making. "The orbs are interfering with our magic. In my line of work, I can tell you that the best method against magic interference is through physical means. But first, we need to see what happens if we attack the orbs. If its covered traps, sometimes you have to set it off prematurely, especially before you're suspended over liquid death." Ezekiel pulled out a knife from the set tied to his legs. He took a step forward and waited for the orb to move away from him. He flicked it with astonishing power. However, a thrust occurred from a miniature explosion of mana from his fingers. The knife was aimed so that it would catch the orb on its way back. Category:Dungeon Run